Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison following his conviction last year on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
“He lured young girls and boys into his orbit, often through empty or conditioned promises of assistance in developing a career in the entertainment industry or simply by playing into the minors’ understandable desire to meet and spend time with a popular celebrity,” federal prosecutors wrote in their sentencing letter.
Kelly showed no emotion as the judge read him the sentence.
“You left in your wake a trail of broken lives,” District Court Judge Ann Donnelly told him. “These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years. You taught them that love is enslavement and violence.”
Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence him to more than 25 years in prison. Kelly’s crimes against minors spanned decades.
Kelly’s attorneys were seeking the minimum of 10 years and claimed that he should receive a lighter sentence because he was sexually abused as a child.
